The Unwilling Soul
by Ceramic Quill
Summary: The Avengers experience an unanticipated incident after Thor left to rule Asgard. Rated M for blood and details, to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

Loki stood before the grand mirror that remained in his chambers. He tightened the belts of his battle chest plate and fastened his boots. He slipped into his jacket and strapped the vambrace tightly on top.

He paused to look at the engraved pauldron- he liked them, they made him look sharp and prevailing.

This was to be a grand celebration for Asgard. Staring absently at his reflection he finished adjusting his armor, and smiled at himself. But the smile wouldn't reach his eyes. This wasn't what he had wanted. His plans had gone horribly wrong, but maybe this was for the better.

A guard knocked onto his door, signaling that he should be finishing up. Loki picked up his helmet, debating with himself simply over if he should bring it or not. Abandoning the idea, he left his chambers and walked down the Great Halls of Asgard. Everything was quiet, as compared to when Thor had walked down the same room to accept responsibility as the new All-Father, granting him king-ship not too long ago.

The scaffold that was placed in the Great Hall was a few feet high and draped in black. It was reached by steps and furnished with the block. His people were there to witness the execution. He walked to the piece calmly. Heimdall held the practiced axe. Loki looked to him, "Strike true Heimdall, please, you shall mark an end of all my troubles." He turned to the new king of Asgard. His brother, weary eyed sat on the throne. "I won't hold any grudges, brother, for this is my doing. I am sorry it happened. I will wait for you." Loki gave him a reassuring smile that held no effect.

Loki stood unwavering and confident. "Loki Laufeyson, illegitimate son of Odin and dishonored prince of Asgard, you have been sentenced to death by beheading. The All-Father and the council have not called to stay this execution. We are gathered on this day to witness your sentence of death for the crime of high treason, to be carried out at dusk. And so the sentence will proceed. I carry out this condemnation by the power vested in me by the All-Father. May you find forgiveness in Hel or Valhalla, whichever claims you." Heimdall avowed.

Loki stood still, as a servant removed the iron collar from his neck, replacing shackles onto his wrists behind him. The crowd of witnesses soundless.

His eyes were blindfolded by Heimdall with a black veil embroidered in gold, he knelt down in front of the block, on which he positioned his head. "Into thy hands, brother, I commend myself."

The axe came down, but Loki was not killed with the strike. The laceration missed his neck and struck the back of his skull. Loki shuddered, in palpable distress, writhing slightly. The second blow severed the neck, with the exception of a bit of sinew, to which Heimdall cut through using the axe. He held the head up high, black locks in his hand, declaring "All hail Thor!" Loki's body collapsed to the side.

The crowd chanted, his friends likewise. Thor looked away from his people. Standing up slowly, he walked away. Leaving his brother's body with the room of ungodly celebration.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony Stark kissed Pepper as the paparazzi shot thousands of photographs recording their super-hero's love interest. This kind of material was great for common gossip magazines and the Times periodicals. The couple walked into the building's ball room, bringing the life of the party with them. Drinks were being served on the long walkway, and when he came out through the grand entrance there were many groups already laughing and glowing, strolling off into the maze of party attendees. The room and its occupants seemed to take and hold the richly filtered evening light. The musicians and DJs both played eloquent music, which filled the room with an eminent atmosphere. The evening filled with business transactions, fine drinks, and dancing.

"Tony, it's time to give your speech." Pepper said into his ear.

"I have to give a speech?" Tony looked at her in mock surprise.

"Yes, and you forced me to help you write it because you were lazy."

"Not lazy, I just wanted to irritate you." Tony laughed, planting a kiss on her face. Through the generous laughter Pepper caught Tony's eyes, and held it for two or three long seconds.

"Well you succeeded. But I'm forgiving you now." Pushing his shoulder lightly to the center of the room.

"AHEM! My honored and esteemed guest! Thank you for coming to my little humble event of celebration!" the partiers and photographers laughed. "I hope you all have enjoyed yourselves this fine evening! As you all know, or some of you don't if you haven't paid attention, we are all here to celebrate the expansion of the non-profit organizations to help those who were affected by the-"

A woman screamed.

"Now that's a dedicated fan." A low laughter traveled through the party, Tony glanced round, with a little shrug of amusement. But then others began to gasp in terror, and the participants of the party dispersed from the center of the ballroom.

A young boy knelt in the middle of the room, throwing up thick scarlet blood. He held onto his throat as he convulsed in sporadic spasms.

No one helped the boy. Flashes from cameras lit up the room. Stark rushed down to aid the boy. _Where the hell did he come from?_ The boy stared blankly as blood seeped out of his nose and mouth, some leaking out of one of his eyes. "JARVIS! Contact the ambulance! We got a minor in critical condition."

"The ambulance would arrive in approximately 10 minutes, sir, the streets are in high traffic, my apologies."

The boy grabbed onto Stark's wrist, fingers clenched. "Please don't hurt me, I beg you!" Tears and blood splattering out of him with each word. He fell unconscious, but did not let go of Tony's arm. Tony looked at the boy's face, stunned.

"JARVIS! Send my suit!" In a matter of seconds, the suit shot through the room attaching each piece to the precise location on his body. He picked up the boy's body, launching himself out of the room. The room stared in stunned silence. Pepper took control of the situation by directing them to another location, but most of them feeling unsettled, tried to leave the party due to what they just witnessed. "JARVIS, redirect me to Stark Tower. And I need you to contact Dr. Banner." The call connected, "Dr. Banner? I need you to pay me a visit, right now."

"I'm in Iceland. I'm sorry Tony, I'm a bit busy at the moment." Bruce apologized profusely, but a bit annoyed with how Tony thought he could just boss him around.

"Doesn't matter." Stark landed in his tower, charging to the tower's infirmary unit.

"I'm sending a jet. You'll be here in a few hours." Tony hung up on Bruce.

"The jet for Dr. Banner has been processed. He will arrive at approximately six o'clock, Mr. Stark."

Tony landed onto his Tower, ditching the Iron Man suit, going straight to the personal infirmary of Stark Tower. Jarvis informed Tony that the medical personnel has been contacted, and waiting for his arrival. The doctors pried the boy's hand off of Stark, taking him to the critical care unit.

The boy had a respirator on his face, no longer shaking or bleeding, they had pumped the blood out of the boy's lungs. His doctors were not sure where the blood came from. He did not have any internal injuries, nor did he have any health problems. In fact, he was the healthiest boy they have ever looked at, other than choking on blood and having a few weird qualities. They ruled out a prank, the blood was real and his own.

They dismissed themselves after placing ventilators and connecting other medical equipment onto him, leaving him with Tony. Tony observed the boy, whom was unusually pale, dark hair, and teal eyes. Maybe about fourteen years old. He was familiar, but anything that he thought of didn't make much sense.


	3. Chapter 3

Bruce knocked on the door, smiling tentatively into the artificially brightly lit white room. Tony sat in a swivel chair, studying the patient. Dr. Banner knit his eyebrows in question, "Hey Tony. What's going on? Who is this?"

"This is a long-lost friend of ours." Turning around casually tapping the unconscious boy's head.

Bruce slipped into the room, closing the door quietly behind him. "Ours? I don't know him."

Tony rotated in his chair, "Yes you do. Remove the respirator from his face. It would be a slap to the face if you still don't recognize him."

Bruce walked up to the boy, doing as asked. He backed off a few steps. Bruce believed it to be a trick, probably a trick gone wrong if anything.

"Dunno. Take a look at this yourself. He just happened yesterday evening, just before I called." Tony showed Dr. Banner a recording of his speech. "I collected a blood sample, and they matched up flawlessly."

"I believe you have already sent word to Coulson?" Bruce asked, observing the boy's face again, brought up the idea that maybe this was that villain's child, but the idea was slightly shot down.

"No. No I didn't." Stark didn't defend any reasons. This riled Bruce, they were safe as long as the unconscious boy stayed unconscious. Stark told him that the boy had enough anesthesia pumped in him to keep a bear hibernating. Stark agreed to contact Coulson, and so picked up his phone dialing the number.

The conversation stopped when the boy pulled off the oxygen mask from his face. "Where am I?"

"Um… Stark Tower." The one in the formal attire informed him.

The boy looked at the men in plain confusion. He was unusually exhausted, but ignoring the feeling he pushed himself up. He looked down at his shirt, it wasn't something he owned. He looked back at the men who he could hardly over hear talking earlier, he granted them another look of confusion.

"You know… New York? America. Earth. Uh… Midgard."

He looked at the mask he was wearing earlier with a questioning look, noticing his other hand was handcuffed to the bed, broke them off. Turning his eyes to the IVs and wires sticking out and to his skin, peeling them away too. "Yeah, right. Sure I am. Who set up this prank? It must be in poor taste, because it is not amusing. Do I know you two?"

"Yes, I'm Dr. Bruce Banner, and this is my colleague, Tony Stark."

"I don't recall. But the pleasure is mine. I'm Loki, brother of Thor, second son of the All-Father, Odin."

"Yeah, we know."

Loki was soon standing, looking at both men, unsure what he was expecting to happen. The doctor looked uncomfortable, staring at him in high alert, as if he might explode at any given second, the other scrutinizing every little twitch. Loki bit his bottom lip waiting, assuming nothing was going to happen, Loki took initiative for conversation. "So you know of me, this is a start. Do any of you know how to call Heimdall? He never taught me… Unless I have been brought here in a worm hole. I found a few back in Asgard, he and father have no idea about them yet, but none that link to Midgard, I believe." No response. Stark's phone received a notification, Stark and Banner gave each other a quick side glance, taking a few steps away. "Whatever is the matter?"

In an instant, the quiet room occupied by just the tree of them, filled only by the sound of Loki talking and the hum of medical equipment, was contrasted by complete chaos as glass from the windows shattered into the room in one burst. Agents in black, holding giant weapons and arsenal broke into the room from the windows and from the hallway door. A tranquilizer dart laced with a heavy sedative nailed Loki in the throat, falling to the floor, before he had time to register what was happening.

Pulling out the dart, he struggled to stand up, the attackers responded by immediately nailing him with three more darts in the chest. Loki panicked as his vision became indistinct and fragmented. Unsure of the location of the assailants, he forced a spell in defense, the lights in the room burst out as objects around him were used to fend off his assailants. Using the disarray, he ran to the window beginning to metamorphose into a bird to fly out the room, the Agents received orders to shoot. Bullets ripped open the skin of his back, the semi-shape shifted body collided into medical equipment, falling back to the floor. Fighting to pick himself up or see clearly, he endeavored to recall anything amidst the panic. Someone placed a foot on top of his back, imminently pressing the bullets back in as multiple hands tried to grab onto his arms. He dug his nails into anything and everything to stop whatever they were doing to him. He felt another sting, as an Agent jammed another neutralizer into his neck. He felt cool metal on his wrists before his blurred vision completely blacked out.

It was not a large portion of time later until the boy regained consciousness. Before he could open his eyes, he could overhear Stark, Banner, and another arguing. He strained to open his eyes, taking a surprising amount of effort to do so; colors were brighter, sounds exaggerated, and his head throbbed. It took him a minute to recuperate those senses. He observed many humans directing weaponries at him. They did not react, instead staring stone cold at him, waiting for orders from the man who had later identified himself as Director Coulson. He sat in a new room with dark walls, and well restrained. There were chains connecting him to anything and everything. If he wanted to walk around, the idea would go unfulfilled. He was highly inconvenienced, but was surprisingly comfortable, which was a plus. He tried to pry the manacles off, but they held firm.

"Why can't Thor just get an interstellar phone or something?" Coulson turned to look at Loki, who sat handcuffed, now trying to pry them off using his teeth, eventually giving up. The boy's interest peaked at the name of his brother, but any inquiries he made were ignored.

The group continued their heated discussion. Loki shouted to them trying to gain their attention. Their conversation faltered as they looked to him once more. "You know my father does not respond to ransom? He just kills them, believe me, I have seen him do it before. It's tragic and vile. If you are looking for wealth, this isn't the way. I can help you if you are looking for money… I'm an enchanter. I trust that you already knew this. These links are Asgardian." Loki looked at Coulson's strike team, all ready for orders to shoot at the slightest movement. He had read that Midgardians like wealth, but those were Vikings, surely these humans were the same. "Sir, I can help you. Don't go through with this." Loki looked at his new found Midgardian acquaintances, Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner. They did not help him.

Coulson informed the boy that he wasn't being used as ransom, which clearly took away a bit of anxiety from his face. But turns to confusion as the director tells him that he has been moved into a stay of custody.

"So if I'm going to stay here… could all the restraints be a bit less restraining?" He smiled at the taken aback Midgardians.


End file.
